Down the Rabbit Hole
by MeteorLeopard
Summary: It's one of those moments when you wish for the earth to swallow you 'hole'.
1. Down the Rabbit Hole

**This story was inspired by possibly the cutest music video that I have ever seen! If anyone is interested in watching said music video after reading this, feel free to message me and I'll send you the link. **

**Toushirou is unfortunately somewhat out of character. However, it couldn't be helped. You shall understand what I mean at the end. Now, enjoy! **

**Title: Down the Rabbit Hole**

**Author: MeteorLeopard (HoneyBadger)**

* * *

Karin had never been particularly good with children. In fact, they kind of frightened her. Not that she'd ever admit that, of course. Kurosaki Karin didn't admit fear to anyone! Heck, she wasn't even particularly intimidated by Hollows anymore! But children; there she stood quaking in her soccer cleats. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that she didn't put much stock in fairy tales.

She knew that little children weren't particularly dangerous. It was just that she had no clue what to do with them. Once she'd seen a little boy who'd tripped and hurt his knee. Deciding to take the initiative, Karin had knelt down by the boy and told him bluntly to toughen up; crying wasn't going to solve anything. All that had achieved was make the boy cry harder. On an occasion a while later, when a little girl had lost her favourite doll, Karin had figured she'd have to be kinder. So she'd handed the girl a pack of tissues. Unfortunately the little girl had only stared at the packet, wondering what on earth she should be doing with it.

After that, Karin had made a firm decision to stay as far away from little children as she could.

It had worked for a while. Until her father had decided that she needed a holiday job. Apparently he was concerned with the amount of Hollows that Karin was fighting and hoping that a job might keep her occupied and allow the resident Shinigami to do his job. She'd had a lot to say about the resident Shinigami's aptitude. Ichigo had agreed with her. Yuzu had told her to stop being so rude.

Eventually, after a lot of nagging from her father, Karin had grudgingly agreed. The money might help her afford those new headphones that she wanted.

Except... her father had picked the worst possible job for her. The worst! And he knew; he _knew_ damn it!

So here she was, standing on the sidewalk, dolled up in a light blue dress with a white apron, wearing a bobble head sporting blonde hair and blue eyes, waving cheerily and handing out yellow heart-shaped balloons. To children.

There was a new theme park opening just down the road in a week's time and they needed people to dress up for publicity. How her father had managed to find this gig Karin would never know. But she had half a mind to strangle him for it.

The only consolation to this utter humiliation was that the oversized bobble head kept her identity well and truly protected. Also, strangely, children didn't seem to mind her while she was wearing this ridiculous outfit. Wasn't the huge, bulbous head a deterrent? She hadn't particularly liked the weird people in costumes when she was younger herself, though she had put that down to her general lack of enthusiasm for anything doll or fairy tale related.

When she had left the house this morning she had threatened both Ichigo and her father that, should either of them even think of daring to come see how she was doing during the day and poke fun of her, she would have absolutely no qualms about decking them right where it hurt, dressed as child-friendly character or not.

Just as she was handing yet another yellow balloon to a little girl with short pigtails, a terribly familiar voice floated to her above the crowd. "Karin-chan?"

She stiffened as though electrocuted. Turning in the direction of the voice warily, eyes wide and the enormous head turning to look with her, she could have not been more surprised to find a tall, busty, strawberry-blonde woman pushing her way through the throng of parents and children, waving an eager hand above her head and hollering for Karin's attention. Within the bobble head, Karin's mouth fell open. It might have been five years ago, but Karin recognized that woman. Matsumoto Rangiku, Toushirou's vice captain.

_Oh crap_, her mind supplied helpfully. _What is she doing here?_

"Karin-chan!" the excited woman exclaimed again as she - finally - broke through to stand beside her. Matsumoto looked her up and down critically and then, with pursed lips asked, "Why are you dressed so strangely?"

Helplessly - and desperately wishing that Matsumoto would just leave already - Karin shrugged her shoulders. By contract, she was not allowed to speak while wearing the bobble head. It would destroy the image of the character that she was playing - apparently it was Alice from the Land of Wonders, or something - and besides, her voice would be muffled anyway.

But Matsumoto had already lost interest in her looks and was smiling brightly at her. "You know, I hardly recognized you, Karin-chan! Your reiatsu has grown so much since the last time on that soccer field that I wasn't sure that it was you in this silly costume!" With each word, Karin cringed further. A little child pulled at her blue dress. Karin handed the girl a balloon and gave them a robotic wave. The child seemed to buy it and skipped off.

Matsumoto had been speaking for a while now, nattering on about things that Karin did really not want to know. Her cheeks were still flushed in hot embarrassment. The blood was roaring in her ears.

"... actually, I think taicho should be around here somewhere." A bucket of cold water could not have been as sobering. Head instantly clearing, Karin's head snapped up so quickly that the bobble head threatened to dislodge itself. It probably looked pretty disgusting to watch, the way the bobble head was jostled on her shoulders, but Karin found that she couldn't care less whether or not she'd accidentally scarred a child for life. Her heart was performing a rather realistic impression of a jackhammer tearing away at her chest; it actually hurt. She cursed herself for it.

"What?" the word had slipped from her mouth accidentally. Luckily she'd choked up and it had sounded more like a croak than anything else. Matsumoto, who was standing the closest and was now helping her to distribute yellow balloons, nodded.

"Yep," the women said happily, kneeling down to give a balloon to a particularly eager girl. "He has a meeting with your brother later today and I convinced him to come early and take half a day off to relax! "

Karin was stunned. She might have last seen Toushirou five years ago, but _that_ Toushirou was not the kind to be swayed into taking a break quite so easily. Matsumoto smiled kindly at a little boy and offered a balloon to him, which he took with a toothy grin. His older sister wanted a balloon next. "Actually," the woman said as she stood up and leaned closer to Karin, lowering her voice conspiratorially, "I think the only reason I managed to talk him around was because I mentioned that we might run into you."

It was like her body had just swallowed a pound of steel. For one brief moment she was soaring. Then she yanked herself back to earth and shook herself. Matsumoto was playing with her. She had to be. It was in the woman's personality to be carefree and teasing; this was just a friendly jibe; a reference to her and Toushirou's previous meetings. Nothing special.

Her thoughts turned to Toushirou as his fukutaicho asked a little girl for her name. Had he changed a lot over the past five years? He probably still looked the same; Matsumoto didn't seem to have aged a day.

She secretly smiled to herself at the prospect of being taller than him. She couldn't help it if the only image of Toushirou in her head when she thought of him was of the times when he'd looked at her five years ago. She remembered him as a young boy; a young boy that her young self had developed quite a crush on. Apparently the crush wasn't as long gone as she'd hoped, judging from her body's reaction to hearing his name. But she was a teenager now. Sixteen years old. He probably still looked to be twelve. Unbidden, a wicked - but welcome - thought crossed her mind. Perhaps, if she saw him, she could try to give him a balloon. Oh, he wouldn't like that. Not one bit. Then her brain registered the prospect of 'meeting him' and decided to send her heart into another frenzy. Damn, how she hated emotions! And hormones; damn them too!

Matsumoto was waving at her then, offering a happy goodbye. Through her haze, Karin vaguely registered the woman leaving. Karin handed a pair of balloons to an eager set of twins. Happily, the two children set off with their mother, their new yellow heart-shaped balloons clutched in their diminutive hands. Karin blinked as an image of herself and Yuzu replaced the two smiling twins. A pang went through her chest but she shook it off. Dwelling on dreams long past would not bring her joy. With the loss of her mother had come the death of fairy tales and fantasies. Princes didn't always come and dreams didn't have to come true. She'd resigned herself to reality years ago.

* * *

Her break came two hours later.

Sinking down onto the edge of a fountain in a nearby park, she was grateful for the reprieve that her feet were getting after being in those ridiculous nurse-shoes for almost six hours now. All of her balloons had been distributed for the time being. She'd go get some more after her break. As she reached up and removed the bobble-head, she inhaled the fresh air greedily, almost a little lightheaded. It was stuffy and hot inside the bobble head, making her drowsy and tired. By removing the bobble head she was putting herself at risk of being discovered, but she needed a few minutes of normalcy to regain her sanity. Acting like a dangerously curious little girl who'd been stupid enough to fall down a freaking rabbit hole took its toll on Karin's ego.

Cradling the gigantic head on her lap, Karin turned it until she could stare into its permanently-smiling face. _Yep_, she decided. _Definitely creepy_. Aside from the smile, the face held next to no emotions.

Something pricked on the edges of her senses. Over the years of fighting Hollows, her intuition had saved her life multiple times. She wasn't going to start doubting it now. A set of footsteps was approaching. Many footsteps were passing by the fountain - people going about their lives - but this set was heading towards her. She knew it. And then they stopped, just three meters away. Karin's eyes fell on a pair of closed black shoes. Her gaze shifted up the legs to the jacket hanging casually over a black shirt. A scarf, trailing loosely, led up to a strong jaw and a scruffy mop of white hair. The eyes - teal and frowning as usual - which were fixed on her, caught her attention last. Her heart tried to commit suicide.

Things clicked together rather quickly; she'd never been labelled as stupid before. Toushirou was back after five years of absence, just standing there in the middle of the freaking park as if he owned the place, hands in his pockets, looking as cool and laid back as ever, ogling her while she was wearing a dress more suited for a milk maid! A freaking milk maid!

Mortification pierced her like a poison arrow and, flushing bright red, she shoved the stupid bobble head back on. Blinking, she realized she couldn't see.

Damn it, it was on backwards!

She crossed her arms with a huff, trying her very best to appear dignified. In the darkness of the reversed head, she could still clearly imagine him standing there. She swallowed thickly as she realised with a start that he was taller. And he looked older. How did that work?

She could hear steps as he approached, slowly. She was sure that she was shaking like a leaf now; equal parts damnable nerves and shame. She prayed that he'd stop and stay away. Or even better; walk by like he hadn't seen her!

But of course that would be too good. He stopped right beside her. "What the hell are you doing, Kurosaki?"

Funny. She'd been asking herself the same question for the past few hours. Karma hated her. Words stuck in her throat and she only resulted in emitting a shallow croak. Why did he have to catch her at such an un-cool time? Why couldn't he show up when she was scoring a winning goal? Or walking home from school with her bag slung over her shoulder? Or helping out at the clinic, looking all professional with a clip board or something? Why _now_ when she was dressed in a freaking bobble head? _Why_?

Karin was mortified. Flushed red to the tips of her ears and gritting her teeth against the lump in her throat, her eyes stung in painful humiliation. So she got up and, holding onto the reversed bobble head still obscuring her vision, ran blindly for cover.

She fervently hoped that he wouldn't follow. Had Karin been able to look back, she would have found an astonished Toushirou standing dumbfounded by the fountain, his hand partially outstretched as though to call her back.

* * *

The remainder of the day was a game of Avoid-the-Captain. Although it took effort, Karin managed to keep her energy signature entirely suppressed. Waving and handing out balloons as the picture of cheerfulness, she was keeping a vigilant eye out for Toushirou. She could sense him in the area. So she moved around a lot, deliberately going out of her way to stay undetected. She'd even made two trips into a subway station to avoid him as he walked down the street. Her employer had been very impressed with her determination to spread publicity for the park and given her a small bonus. Karin wasn't about to contradict him by saying that she'd only been trying to avoid a familiar face.

Half way through the afternoon he'd disappeared. Karin remembered what Matsumoto had said about them needing to meet with Ichigo about something, so she'd written his disappearance off and taken a relieved breath.

So now she was on her way home, dragging her feet as she walked the last stretch. She was out of that stupid costume, free of the bobble head and her hands held no more yellow balloons. Children passed her by as usual. And she'd never have to put that costume on again. It had been a once-off gig. Before entering her home, she scanned the area for any traces of Toushirou's reiatsu signature. She found nothing, though he might have just been suppressing his reiatsu like she had been earlier. So she was still wary as she unlocked the door.

"I'm back," she called tentatively, but loudly, as she entered her home. Yuzu called an answer from the kitchen, from where Karin could smell supper being cooked. That lifted her mood just a little. She peeked into the living area as she passed it and saw no evidence of white hair anywhere. A little more of the tension lifted from her shoulders. She passed by the kitchen to go up to her room. She urgently needed a shower. Perhaps the water would wash off the residual humiliation that still clung to her.

She still shared a room with Yuzu. Ichigo may have gone off to study, but he still needed a room when he came home over the holidays. She didn't mind though. For the most part, sharing a room with Yuzu meant that it was always tidy.

The light flickered on and Karin slumped against the closed door, letting a tired sigh pass her lips. Her cheeks were still a bit red. _Never again_, she vowed to herself. Never again did she want to go through that situation. She'd never been more embarrassed in her life. She couldn't even begin to fathom what Toushirou thought of her now.

She frowned at that. Who cared what the midget thought of her? _Certainly_ not her. Most certainly _not_! Never! Not a chance! So he'd seen her dressed a bit strangely. Whatever. That didn't mean anything. Nothing at all.

With a firm nod, Karin pushed herself from the door and drew a fortifying breath. She'd go shower now and when she got out she'll have forgotten all about this. She'll have shoved it into the same mental drawer that she'd put every other memory of Toushirou so far. And when next she saw the midget, she'd pretend that this afternoon's encounter had never happened. In fact, if he even brought it up, she'd get angry at him. Angry like she should have gotten at the fountain.

Come to think of it, why hadn't she gotten angry earlier? With any of her other friends - who still consisted entirely of guys - she would have wasted no time in punching their lights out or at least threatening their personal wellbeing. Then again, she'd never behaved exactly like she was supposed to around the midget. And that irritated her. Immensely.

Snarling angrily, she pulled her bag from her shoulders and flung it onto her bed. Something caught her eye and Karin turned to face her bed again, noticing the lump of white on top of her dark blue duvet cover. Curiously, she picked soft white lump up and turned it over in her hands. It was a white rabbit plush toy. And it was wearing a waistcoat with a golden pocket watch pinned to it.

Confusion crossed her face. Was it Yuzu's? Then what was it doing on Karin's bed?

The door opened then and Ichigo took a step into the room, keeping a hand on the doorknob. His brown eyes zeroed in on her. "Ah, you found it," he said, gesturing to the white rabbit in her hands. Karin nodded, glancing down at the plush toy. "Toushirou left that for you."

Karin's eyes went wide as saucers as she gaped at her brother, who was still standing nonchalantly in her doorway. Ichigo only shrugged and said, "Apparently there's a note inside the pocket watch for you."

Even more bemused, Karin made to open the pocket watch, which until then had been closed. A piece of unimpressive white paper came to light. Unfolding it with unsure hands - because, really, what could Toushirou have possibly written her a note for? Karin almost choked as she read it.

_Tomorrow. 14:30. Fountain. Don't be late for a very important date._

She suddenly wished that fairy tales actually held some truth in them; for then the earth might have opened up in the form of a rabbit hole and swallowed her whole.

* * *

**A very happy un-Birthday to everyone out there! Please leave a review on your way out of the tea party! **


	2. Stilted Siren

**Alright! This is for all of you guys who wanted a sequel to 'Down the Rabbit Hole'. Word of Caution: This is the last chapter! I'm serious! I don't care if I get another hundred reviews asking for a third chapter. No can do, okay? I've got other stories to work on. **

**Also! SugarFox will be writing a Rentatsu one-shot based on the same video that 'Down the Rabbit Hole' was based on. It'll be posted as a separate story, so look out for it! Her story will make references to mine and vice versa. Now, enjoy! **

**Title: Stilted Siren**

**Author: MeteorLeopard (HoneyBadger)**

* * *

Toushirou yanked on his sleeve again, trying his hardest not to appear uncomfortable. Behind him, the fountain was bubbling in a nauseatingly cheery fashion. Against his will, his eyes flickered to the large clock standing in the centre of the small park. Almost time.

With every tick that the clock took towards half past two, Toushirou felt his stomach clenching. Why he should be nervous was beyond him; he'd been the one to instigate this... date. The word echoed in his mind. _Him_ on a date. Something didn't compute properly there. It just didn't. It was like saying that an eel would be comfortable on a bicycle.

Part of him was afraid that she wouldn't show up while the other half - the more sensible half - was insisting that it would be a good thing if she decided to stand him up. That way he'd go on with his Shinigami duties and she'd be left to continue on with her human life without too many complications; everyone benefitted. Except for the fact that his traitorous mind wouldn't leave him be. Five years was a long time. A very long time. Time enough to assume that any childish whims and fancies would have been thrown to the wind long ago. Unfortunately, his brief encounters with the young Kurosaki girl had remained etched into his memory. He was ice, after all. If something was to be preserved, it would take more than five measly years to rid himself of it. From time to time he'd caught himself wondering what she was doing or what direction her life was taking. Sometimes, when Ichigo was in the Soul Society, Toushirou had enquired after her. The orange-haired boy had looked surprised the first time that Toushirou had voiced his question, but only shrugged it off and given an answer. The second time that Toushirou had asked, a few months later, Ichigo hadn't even bothered to waste time being confused anymore and instead given Toushirou a few details. Upon the orange-haired youth's third visit, Toushirou hadn't even needed to ask, for which he was grateful. Perhaps Ichigo had known all along what the icy captain had been - and still was - struggling with.

And yesterday, when Ichigo had agreed to tell Karin about the note in the rabbit's pocket watch, Ichigo had asked him quietly, "It was a chance encounter, wasn't it? A meeting of dumb luck." Toushirou had nodded, to which Ichigo had sighed. "Weird how those always seem to leave the most lasting impressions." Toushirou had a vague idea that Ichigo was not referring to Karin anymore.

In his conversations with Hyourinmaru, the ancient dragon had drawn a rather fitting parallel to the situation. "_A fleeting glimpse and a breath of contact, yet the memory haunts you still, a siren call on the wind_." Toushirou hadn't known the dragon to ever be quite so poetic.

Sometimes he'd been tempted to visit. Very tempted. But duty had kept him at his desk and with his subordinates. Besides, he'd rationalized with himself, going to see her was only going to aggravate whatever tempting whispers were lurking in his brain.

He'd been right. When he'd seen her - Karin - sitting on that bubbling fountain yesterday, scowling at the ridiculous bobble head lying in her lap, he'd frozen for a moment. Somehow she'd changed so much, yet at the same time not at all. And that had both relieved and unsettled him. Unsettled because, despite the ridiculous costume that she was wearing, he could see that she'd grown up. Suddenly his thoughts of fledgling childhood friendship and innocent chance encounters had shifted towards the side of allure. It wasn't even that she looked particularly _good_ in that dress. It was the oddest thing. Hyourinmaru had rumbled appreciatively in his head, echoing his sentiments.

And now here he was, feeling foolish in the long-sleeved shirt and neatly pressed pants - which Matsumoto had insisted he wear - waiting for the clock to strike 14:30 in the hopes that Karin had gotten his note. What had possessed him to write something quite so _silly_ he still did not know. But Matsumoto had insisted that it would work. And Hyourinmaru - what had happened to that dragon? - had encouraged him too.

The clock chimed. A throat was cleared just behind him and Toushirou spun around, almost jumping out of his skin when he realized that - somehow - Karin had managed to appear in his shadow. Great. All of two seconds in her company and he was already emotionally off-balance.

It took Toushirou a minute to comprehend why the girl in front of him seemed different. Sure, she wasn't wearing the bobble head or the costume from the day before, but she seemed... off. Like a mirage instead of the true Karin that he had been expecting. Her hands were tugging on the bracelet around her wrist and her T-Shirt was fitting instead of loose and practical like he remembered her shirts to be. A blush threatened to colour his cheeks as he realized that she was wearing a skirt. Not short by any standards since it came down to just above her knees, but it was white and pretty and entirely too delicate to fit the image of the tomboyish girl that had settled in his mind. And her hair - he hadn't noticed yesterday because it had been pinned up - had grown down to below her shoulders and was now hanging loose so that the breeze would catch some strands from time to time. It was strange to look at a Karin with long hair but he found that he rather enjoyed this last detail.

Karin wasn't even looking at him. Instead she seemed to be entirely too preoccupied with staring at the fountain. So this time _he_ cleared his throat, somehow insulted that he wasn't holding her attention. Karin glanced at him from the corner of her eye and then fixed a determined scowl onto her face. "I'm here," she muttered, gesturing to the clock. "And I'm not late. So what now?"

No 'hello', 'how are you' or even 'nice to see you again'. The corner of his mouth almost lifted at her familiar attitude. Perhaps the skirt was a temporary thing after all. It wasn't like he wore clothes like this on a regular basis either.

"Over there," he said, gesturing to the park's single cafe'. Karin nodded and began following him to the entrance.

It was all downhill from there.

The waiter who welcomed them into the cafe' was tall, dark-haired and, unfortunately, handsome. And, Toushirou realized, Karin was drawing several interested stares. His own cheeks coloured as he mentally admitted that she looked rather pretty dressed like that; almost like a doll or an enticing visage from myth and magic. However, instead of the fiery attitude that she had graced him with five years ago, Karin seemed quiet and aloof. This was not the girl that had captured his attention. Yet the stares that she was receiving were grinding on his nerves. _What claim did they have on her_? So he inched closer to Karin and shot each and every one of the hopeful candidates a malevolent glare. Frail little humans that they were, they shrunk away. So he got a tad territorial; he couldn't help that he'd adopted some of his dragon's possessive instincts!

They were shown to a table and, after ordering, Toushirou firmly dismissed their waiter, who looked about to open his mouth and attempt an advance on Karin. Intimidated, the waiter scurried away. Karin seemed unmoved, as though not paying attention. He didn't say anything - he'd never been a man of many words - but neither did she. Thick silence settled over their table. When she asked him a question - why he was back in Karakura - he started with surprise and fumbled with his words for a second. She didn't offer him a way out and, in his haste, Toushirou decided to comment on the one thing that had been bugging him from the beginning.

"Pretty skirt." Karin seemed unmoved though and he continued, "But, you know, you look better without one-" He broke off registering Karin's shocked face. He blushed, mortified. "No! I mean that- shorts! You look better in shorts!" Karin's face remained stony. "Not that you look ugly in a skirt," he tried backpedalling. "And it looks better than the dress from yesterday!" That hadn't helped either. He could feel his grandmother frowning disapprovingly at his lack of tact from all the way in the Soul Society.

The convenient arrival of the waiter to bring them their drinks had cut him off. Unfortunately his hand had bumped into Karin's and he'd jerked so violently that he'd tipped his glass, sending sticky brown liquid splashing all over Karin's shirt. He'd immediately offered to wipe if off for her and she'd snatched the serviette away, glaring at him. "I can do _that_ myself!" So she had and afterwards, when she'd looked about ready to kill him, the only thing he could think of to say was, "At least your shirt's black."

He'd composed himself after that, forcing down the flustered feeling that she was giving him. It remained bubbling in the pit of his stomach, making him feel sick.

They'd left soon after. Still determined to try and win her favour - or whatever he was trying to do with this disaster of a date - he'd taken her to a larger park for a walk in the sunset. Again, Matsumoto's influence. The only thing he'd ended up doing was stepping on her heel and making her lose one of her shoes, which rolled down the bank and landed with a splash in the river. Karin shot him a look and then went down to retrieve her shoe, which was half submerged and bobbing in the current. Toushirou had followed her, wanting to fish it out for her, but understanding by her turned back that she did not want him to. So he'd stood back and watched her take her second shoe off and wade calf-deep into the flowing water. With the sunset glancing off the ripples and throwing Karin's silhouette into shadow, he was struck by the perfection of that image; the simplicity. Then she'd stepped out of the water, waving her sopping wet shoe in his face.

To think he'd even taken an extra day of leave for this...

At this point Toushirou was feeling the distinct urge to go jump off a cliff. His heart - beating at the same rate as it did when facing off against a deadly opponent - was not helping to clear his head. Adrenaline, brought on by nervousness, was making him jittery and he hated it. And Karin was so... weird! It was like she didn't know what to say to him! Of course... he had seen her just yesterday in a giant bobble head. Perhaps she was still embarrassed? But Kurosaki Karin didn't get embarrassed. She shrugged things off and carried on with her life as normal. Right?

He sighed, trying to swallow his awkward emotions. A lot could change within five years. Matsumoto kept insisting that he'd changed, but aside from the physical side he couldn't truly testify that claim. Right now though, he only wanted things to be like they had been five years ago. When she'd tell him to his face that he was stupid, wear whatever she wanted and not give a damn about what others thought of her. That was the siren call that he'd followed.

The time came for him to drop her off at her home. The sun had set, the night was still young but the air was stuffy, heavy and oppressive. They stood outside the Kurosaki clinic, awkward, shuffling their feet and looking anywhere but at each other. Toushirou wanted to get out of there. Run as fast as he could and forget that this had ever happened. But his stubborn, upstanding side was refusing such action, demanding of him that he somehow make things right between them; he couldn't just leave things as they were! How would he ever face her in the future again?

He opened his mouth as though to say something, then shut it again when words failed him. What was one to say after such a disaster of a day? Karin still smelled faintly of that sugary drink he'd spilled on her, her left shoe was soggy and the bottom of her white skirt was wet with river water. Toushirou thought that he heard Karin take a breath in preparation to say something and reflexively his eyes snapped to hers, which immediately turned away when they met.

Silence reigned supreme.

Then, from somewhere around the corner, an unearthly wail pierced the air. Skidding sounds were followed closely by enraged shouting, panicked yelps and half-stifled bursts of laughter. Then two figures shot around the corner - Toushirou's eyes widened as he recognized Abarai - and dashed right past him and Karin. A policeman rounded the corner next, shaking his fist at the fleeing pair. "Stop! Thieves!"

Toushirou watched as Karin's eyes followed the policeman as he sprinted after Abarai and the other human girl. The street was silent once again and in the aftermath Toushirou understood the vague outlines of what had just happened.

He groaned, pinching his nose and anticipating the paperwork that he'd have to do. "Can't leave them alone for even a day," he muttered under his breath, silently cursing his team for being so very useless. Then Karin snickered, her face breaking out into the first real grin he'd seen on her face since five years ago. Then the snicker turned into a chuckle and from that into a laugh; a good, warm, hearty laugh. Toushirou forgot about the looming paperwork and his gaze settled on Karin, hopeful. Then she looked at him, eyes meeting his head on, and she shook her head. "Toushirou, what the hell were we doing?"

Strange, he'd been asking himself a similar question for the past few hours. Despite himself, seeing Karin smile at him so sincerely, a smirk appeared on his lips. _This_ was what he'd been missing. _This_ was the face of his siren; this comfortable, friendly atmosphere around her; no pretences and no heed for social decorum. Just like five years ago. His shoulders slackened in relief as tension he hadn't known he'd been harbouring lifted. "Who knows," he replied, knowing very well that the Karin from five years ago would have hated that reply.

She did not disappoint. Frowning - and with an irritated lilt to her voice - she told him, "That's a crappy answer." His reply was the widening of his smirk. Karin's dark eyes - hard and impenetrable till now - softened.

And - _there_ - that was the look that had gotten his attention the last time. And it was that look that made him suddenly feel like he was choking. The tension was back, but this time for a whole new reason. Matsumoto had said, as she was preparing him for his date, that girls liked men who were forward. Karin was smiling at him with a rare gentleness and Toushirou knew that he wanted to do something. He would not back down because of fear of consequence; he was a dragon and therefore brave.

So he leant forward, closing the distance between them with a step, and pressed a kiss to her lips. Well, that's what he'd intended to do. What he ended up doing was missing and instead barely catching her on the corner of her mouth. There were no metaphorical fireworks or erupting stars behind his lids; no electricity and no fire. Just the slightly odd sensation of his lips pressed clumsily to hers. Karin breathed in sharply and he jerked back, a furious blush creeping onto his cheeks. Karin resembled a tomato. She stammered something and Toushirou wanted to hit himself. Just as the awkward air between them had cleared, he just had to go and bring it back! He wanted to apologize, but Karin was already halfway up the path to her door.

Mentally he cursed himself; what kind of an idiot was he? So much for the _genius_ label! He turned and lifted his hands to run through his hair in frustration. Running footsteps made him turn back and then two arms locked around him, enveloping him in a brief, warm, wonderful hug. He couldn't see Karin's face since she had her head buried in the crook of his neck. He could feel her exhale a little shakily against his skin and he fought the urge to shudder. He felt her pulling back and quickly wound his arms around her too, silently asking her to stay a little longer. Luckily she was still adept at understanding his non-verbal communication.

So they stood in the road for a while, hugging one another and enjoying the other's proximity. Toushirou found it nice. He didn't often hug people. Actually, he hardly ever did. Vaguely, and only on occasion, had he wondered what hugging Karin would have felt like. Up until yesterday when his mind had registered that Karin was attractive, he'd merely missed her friendly company and the odd, subtle way in which they'd '_clicked_'. He was a right old idiot for adding a whole new dimension to this problem.

Toushirou was enjoying her warmth when she began pulling back a little. Reluctantly, he loosened his hold on her and parted enough to catch sight of her face watching him expectantly. Bolstered by the knowledge that she hadn't completely hated his first attempt - since she came back almost immediately - he leaned in again. This time Karin met him, somewhat unsurely, halfway. And this time he could feel the static and the jumping nerves; tension and bliss rolled into one. Regretfully, the kiss was short.

Karin stepped away then, face red even in the gathering darkness and smiling from ear to ear. He was sure that he had an equally goofy expression on his face. "Night," Karin told him, holding up a hand in a awkward casual wave, before turning and running up the path towards the door. She tripped on the step, overbalanced and flailed her arms, yelping.

"Are you-"

"Fine!" she yelled, stumbling inside. "I'm fine!" Then she slammed the door in his face.

Toushirou tried hard to keep from feeling too smug.

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**A/N: Please Review! **


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